Consultant – For End Review of PATSPO II

CIFOR-ICRAF is looking for a Consultant - For End Review of PATSPO II

Locations: Ethiopia

Organization: The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF)

Deadline: 15 Sep 2027

Job Description

CIFOR-ICRAF

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) envision a more equitable world where trees in all landscapes, from drylands to the humid tropics, enhance the environment and well-being for all. CIFOR and ICRAF are non-profit science institutions that build and apply evidence to today’s most pressing challenges, including energy insecurity and the climate and biodiversity crises. Over a combined total of 65 years, we have built vast knowledge on forests and trees outside of forests in agricultural landscapes (agroforestry). Using a multidisciplinary approach, we seek to improve lives and to protect and restore ecosystems. Our work focuses on innovative research, partnering for impact, and engaging with stakeholders on policies and practices to benefit people and the planet. Founded in 1993 and 1978, CIFOR and ICRAF are members of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.

Overview

Background and the PATSPO Project Norway has for many years had an extensive collaboration with Ethiopia on efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation and increase the uptake of carbon in forests (REDD+), which was manifested through a new REDD+ Partnership Agreement signed in June 2024. This agreement builds on a broader climate cooperation signed during the UN climate summit in Durban in 2011, where Norway pledged to support the implementation of Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy. The Norway – Ethiopia REDD+ partnership entered phase 2 by 2024 for which Norway has committed USD 75 million for result based payments until 2030.

PATSPO was implemented from June 2017 to March 2022, financed by the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ethiopia (RNE) to World Agroforestry (ICRAF). ICRAF was responsible for the implementation of PATSPO, in close coordination with the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission, Ethiopia (EFCCC) – now Ethiopia Forestry Development (EFD), and NICFI/RNE.

Following a mid-term review of PATSPO in early 2020 and an end review by end of 2021, it was agreed by NICFI/RNE and EFCCC to prepare for possible funding/ implementation of a second phase of PATSPO from 2022 to 2025. Based on a concept note for a second phase and a stakeholder consultation, the ‘lessons learned’ from PATSPO I were included in the preparation of the project document for second phase (PATSPO II).

PATSPO II builds on the work undertaken, activities, networks and achievements of PATSPO I, 2017 – 22. It has essentially the same aim of assisting in the continuous improvement of the quality of the tree seed being used in Ethiopia for landscape restoration and other tree planting activities, viz. providing the best possible tree seed in the large quantities required to meet Ethiopia’s ambitious tree planting targets.

However, PATSPO II has a stronger engagement with GoE institutions, especially EFD – including research, forest enterprises, regional authorities, with these institutions deeply involved in and progressively taking more responsibility for planning, managing and implementing project activities.

PATSPO II continues providing technical support, including directly to field activities, and financial support based on aligned work plans with the major GoE stakeholders.

Further details are found in the PATSPO II project document, May 2022. Status of work and achievements are documented in the Annual Work Plans (AWP) for 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025; and in the Annual Progress Reports (APR) for 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25.

As per the Grant Agreement (ref. section 9) and following Norad’s Development Cooperation Manual (2005), the date for an end review shall be decided on by mid-end 2024 in consultation with the stakeholders for likely implementation in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Purpose, and intended use of the ER An end review normally marks the end of a project and covers the entire implementation period and focuses on results achieved and documents the experience gained and learning elements obtained. The overall purpose of the ER is to assess the implementation and achievements of PATSPO II. The ER is intended to be forward looking with emphasis on learning lessons and to understand what has and what has not worked during the implementation of PATSPO II. As there has been no Mid Term Review (MTR) of PATSPO II, due to the rather short project period (3,5 Years) this ER shall follow up on the results from the ER of PATSPO I (ER Report, Dec. 2021), the PATSPO Final Report Sept. 2023, and focus on outcomes, impact, lessons learned and experience gained, with particular reference to implementation modality, sustainability and ‘gaps’ still needed to be filled to ensure maximum benefits from the invested funds to support GOE/EFD to provide quality tree seed needed to meeting its large landscape restoration targets of Ethiopia. The TOR for the ER has been prepared by ICRAF in collaboration with EFD and RNE to be conducted by consultants during the fourth quarter of 2025. The ER report and its recommendations will form important inputs for possible phase of follow-up. The review shall focus on the scope and evaluation criteria as further specified below.

Duties and responsibilities

Scope and evaluation criteria

The starting point of the ER mission is the report from the ER of PATSPO from December 2021 and the related Management Response Matrix (MRM), which was agreed upon by EFD, RNE and PATSPO/ICRAF, and includes all the recommendations from the ER and institutions/organizations responsible for their implementation. Based on these two documents and PATSPO II Project Document (PD) and the PATSPO II work plans from 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-2025 and 2025, and the PATSPO II progress reports 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25, the ER mission shall make a brief assessment if the findings, conclusions and recommendations from the ER Report 2022 related to efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, possible impact, stakeholder collaboration, sustainability and risk management are still valid and relevant by the end of 2025 following the Norad Development Cooperation Manual, 2005. The consultants will assess to what extent the specific recommendations in the ER Report 2022 have been followed and implemented during the period 2023-2025. In addition, the consultants will also assess the project’s contribution to the Ethiopia Green Growth Strategy and how a possible phase of follow-up could potentially contribute more.

For the detailed description of these elements (efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, possible impact, stakeholder collaboration, sustainability and risk management), reference is made to the ER Report 2023. The review team will assess and update these elements and further assess the contribution of PATSPO II in Ethiopia’s large scale restoration activities, e.g. based on calculations on the percentage contribution of seeds sourced from the supported RTSCs and FRC-CEC and if possible, how big a part of these seeds are used in raising seedlings for Governments Green Legacy Initiative

The results from the brief/updated assessment of PATSPO II’s achievement 2022 – 2025 will form the first output from the ER mission.

The second output will be an assessment of the relevance and needs for a phase of follow-up. The assessment shall be based on recommendation in the ER Report 2022 and the assessment of the achievements of PATSPO II. The ER will further describe major activities to be undertaken by a possible phase of follow-up and any adjustments of the implementation modality which may be needed.

Implementation of the review and reporting

Sources of information and methodology to be employed:

The ER team will obtain information from:

· Written materials: i) the ER Report 2022, the Annual Work Plans 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-2025 and 2025, and the Progress Reports 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Other documents available for the ER Mission 2025: Programme Documents for PATSPO I and II, Grant Agreement, policy/strategy documents for PATSPO I and II, Annual Work Plans, Annual Progress Reports, Agreed Minutes of Annual Meetings, Technical Project Reports and background documents from GOE, and other available documents/reports (see the MTR Report 2020, the ER Report 2022 for lists of documents, as well as the PATSPO II home page: https://worldagroforestry.org/project/provision-adequate-tree-seed-portfolio-ethiopia-patspo-ii-phase-2).
Meetings with RNE, EFD, Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise (OFWE), Amhara Forest Enterprise (AFE), Bureau of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BOANR) in Tigray, Addis Ababa University (AAU) and other selected institutions/organizations at central and regional level as decided by the ER team, and the PATSPO II/CIFOR-ICRAF Office in Addis Ababa.
At regional level the Tree Seed Centres will be consulted.
If possible, selected beneficiaries of tree seeds needs will also be consulted.

The ER is facilitated by the PATSPO/CIFOR-ICRAF office in Addis Ababa and implemented in close coordination with EFD and RNE in Addis Ababa. The ICRAF office in Addis Ababa is also acting as resource office for the ER team.

In general, the approach and methodology will be:

Conduct a desk review
Collect primary data through meetings.
Field visit to RTSCs and selected field implementation sites.

Additional PATSPO documents and reports for the ER

I addition to the documents/information used by the ER 2022 and listed in the ER Report 2022, the ER Mission will pay particular attention to the following documents/ information:

MTR Report from February 2020 and ER Report December 2022.
Management Response Matrix (MRM) from the MTR February 2020 and ER December 2022
AWPs 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-2025, and 2025.
APR 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25

PATSPO homepage: https://worldagroforestry.org/project/provision-adequate-tree-seed-portfolio-ethiopia-patspo-ii-phase-2

Time Frame and Schedule

The ER will be implemented by one international consultant and one Ethiopian consultant. Each consultant will spend 15 working days (three weeks).

The review is planned to be implemented in October 2025, following this tentative schedule:

Time (October 2025), – number of working days

2 days for each consultant

Task: Desk review and preparation for meetings/visits in Addis Ababa by the Ethiopian consultant

4 days for each consultant

Task: Visits to RNE, EFD, PATSPO II Office, and selected PATSPO II stakeholders in Addis Ababa and field sites. Write an inception report.

5 days for each consultant

Task: Write draft ER Report and submit to RNE, EFD, and PATSPO II/CIFOR-ICRAF.

1 day for each consultant

Task: Meeting with RNE, EFD, and PATSPO II/CIFOR-ICRAF for discussion of draft ER report and receiving inputs for finalizing the report.

3 days for each consultant

Task: Prepare the final ER Report based on comments from RNE, EFC, and PATSPO II/CIFOR-ICRAF after the meeting.

Deliverables

Inception report
ER report in draft and final versions.

The reports will be written in English and made available to the PATSPO II’s legal and implementing partners.

Reporting

Description of required format of the ER Report:

The Inception Report shall give a short general description on how the consultants will implement the review and include a time schedule for the review (meetings, visits, draft reports, etc.) and be of max 2-3 pages.
The ER Report shall include an introduction summary with main conclusions and recommendations.
The report shall be in English language and follow the structure of the review topics in the TOR and instructions from EFD, RNE, and PATSPO II/CIFOR-ICRAF.
The report shall be submitted in electronic form using Word and Excel software. The final report shall be submitted both as Word and PDF files.
The final report shall be of a maximum of 10-15 pages and attached annexes of a maximum of 10 pages.

Follow-up on the ER Report

The RNE, EFD, and PATSPO II/CIFOR-ICRAF will use the ER Report as input for defining the contents of a project document for a possible phase of follow-up.

Education, knowledge and experience

• Advanced degree and significant applied experience in subject matter (>10 years) as well as in the evaluation of subject matter projects (>5 years).
• The review should be conducted by an international consultant and one Ethiopian expert, both specialized in the subject matter of the project

Terms and conditions

• This is a consultancy position
• Work location: Ethiopia
• The international consultant shall identify an Ethiopian expert to be included in the EoI.
• EoIs should be composed of CVs of the international consultant and the Ethiopian expert and a suggested total fee for the task. Travel, daily subsistence, and accommodation will be covered in accordance with ICRAF standards and regulations.
• The consultant will be selected based on qualifications, and the proposed fee of the international consultant and the Ethiopian expert.

To learn more about CIFOR-ICRAF, please visit our websites at: https://www.cifor.org and www.worldagroforestry.org

CIFOR-ICRAF promotes Gender Diversity – Applications from women professionals are encouraged.

CIFOR-ICRAF is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity.